Mary’s fiat and the revolution hidden in the Creed

Cherie Blair, Catholic Herald

Thursday, December 25, 2025

Mary’s response to the angel is freely given: “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord: be it done unto me according to thy word.” We too easily hear this as passive submission. It is not. It is the first courageous fiat in Christian history, an act of consent, not capitulation. God does not impose; God invites. Salvation began not with conquest but with a conversation, and depended on the consent of one teenager. Mary’s fiat was not a single moment; it was a life.